Awakening to the Dream
The Gift of Lucid Living
by Leo Hartong
Reviewed by Dennis L. Trunk
In Awakening to the Dream, Leo Hartong demonstrates an exceptional ability to combine clarity of understanding with clarity of expression and to reduce the teachings of Nonduality to the simplest, yet complete, terms possible.
He writes in a very friendly and enjoyable style, characterized by an intimate conversational tone, as well as an understated humor. In his easygoing manner, as if he is casually walking alongside you and guiding you, he offers candid wisdom and advice, including many fresh observations and insights into the nature of the search and the nature of enlightenment itself. Moreover, he explains without any false advertising exactly what you can expect and not expect. "Witnessing is often suddenly glimpsed and then apparently lost again. Such a glimpse may feel somewhat like the surprised and uncertain feeling one gets when first riding a bicycle. 'Hey I'm doing it!' As you may have discovered, this thought often makes you lose your balance."
Along the way, he is also candid about his own history, delivering a brief narrative of his somewhat turbulent past, as well as the key events and influences in the search preceding his spiritual awakening. Among the influences are both Eastern and Western sources. Although many writers avoid those kinds of personal details as distracting or misleading, his story seems to fit right into place, because it is wedded to a central and contrasting point, which is that awakening is not about accumulating experiences, concepts and expectations, but about dropping them.
The wording of the book's title (which was inspired by Nondualist writer Chuck Hillig) underscores another important point and also reflects the extra care Hartong takes throughout the book in trying to find the precise words to express Nondualistic understanding as accurately as possible. The reason he phrased the title as awakening to the dream, not from the dream, is because he compares spiritual awakening to lucid dreaming in which the dreamer wakes up inside the dream, but the dream continues on. Although nothing changes, the dreamer - the Self - now knows it's a dream.
Perhaps most importantly for those who are still wondering if this seemingly elusive awakening is truly available to them, Hartong is encouraging and insistent: "Enlightenment, or Self-realization, is not something that exists for only a select few."
If, like many seekers, you've been on a long spiritual tour with other writings or teachers and still feel confused, this book could spark the needed clarity. Its core message is simple but crucial. Spiritual awakening is not an event which happens to an individual, because there is no individual to whom it can happen. It is nothing more than understanding your true nature, which is already ever-present. Hartong simply invites you to understand. That's all, but that's enough.
Awakening to the Dream, paperback or e-book, 144 pages
ISBN: 1-4120-0425-X
For More Information
To learn more about Leo Hartong and his writings, or to purchase his book, visit Awakening to the Dream.
Copyright © 1999-2008
Dennis L. Trunk
All Rights Reserved
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